The post-COVID-19 condition (PCC), formerly known as long-COVID, affects 40% of patients with symptoms persisting for months. Common issues include fatigue, shortness of breath, altered taste and smell, and neurological impairments. Females are more prone to PCC. Animal studies show brain inflammation and altered gene expression, suggesting cognitive impairment. The impact of vaccination on PCC requires further research.
Tag Archives: Pandemic
London and me – Memories of a pandemic
I have been to London recently: a long weekend catching up with friends, strolling around familiar places, and discovering new ones. Once again, it has struck me how London makes me feel at home, even if it is a metropolis and I lived there only for a little more than two years. Two years likeContinue reading “London and me – Memories of a pandemic”
One health: a healthy planet to prevent future pandemics
The recent pandemic has highlighted how humans are part of a broad system in which elements are strongly connected and on a constant search for equilibrium. Two brilliant examples of this fragile balance are the Wuhan wet market, where live animals used to be sold and many species were in close contact, and the returnContinue reading “One health: a healthy planet to prevent future pandemics”
Florence Nightingale: a pioneer in epidemiology and infectious disease control
Florence Nightingale was a nurse during the Victorian age in England, or to be more precise, she was the first real nurse. She was the first to define nursery as a profession (for a long time exclusively for women), and to define its rules and principles in her book Notes on nursing for the labouringContinue reading “Florence Nightingale: a pioneer in epidemiology and infectious disease control”
One year of online congresses: pros and cons
One of the positive aspects of working in academic research is (or at least was) participating in congresses, not only to present one’s own work and meet other scientists, but also for the travelling experience. For one year now, scientific congresses and conferences have been either canceled or hold as online events, something to whichContinue reading “One year of online congresses: pros and cons”
The Oxford-Astra Zeneca vaccine: a viral vector-based vaccine
Three different vaccines have been authorised for emergency use in the United Kingdom to control the pandemic: two of them are mRNA vaccines, and one is based on a viral vector. The latter, called AZD1222, has been developed by Oxford University in collaboration with the biopharma company Astra Zeneca. AZD1222 is based in a chimpanzeeContinue reading “The Oxford-Astra Zeneca vaccine: a viral vector-based vaccine”
One year of scicomm (and what a year!)
One year ago I decided to start a science communication blog to share with you my job, to make science more accessible, and to fight fake news and false believes that spread on the internet. I chose to write about viruses because is what I have worked on in the lab for more than sixContinue reading “One year of scicomm (and what a year!)”
The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines: promising results in less than one year since the beginning of the pandemic
Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have been hoping for a vaccine to defeat the virus and get back to “normality”, a more lighthearted daily life that we had to put aside. On March 16th, a few days after the WHO had declared the pandemic, the biotech company Moderna announced the beginning of phaseContinue reading “The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines: promising results in less than one year since the beginning of the pandemic”
The flu: seasonal outbreaks and pandemics
At the beginning of 2020, when the spread of SARS-CoV-2 was undeniable but its consequences were still unknown, some tried to minimize the situation, saying that it was “just like a flu”. However, the flu is not an insignificant disease: it is a viral infection of the airways that we can prevent with a vaccineContinue reading “The flu: seasonal outbreaks and pandemics”
What we know about SARS-CoV-2
“Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2” by NIAID is licensed under CC BY 2.0 (Virus emerging from the surface of an infected cell) We have heard about a new virus that was causing pneumonia since December 2019; the virus was spreading in China and it was temporarily called 2019-nCoV. On February 11th, 2020, the International Committee on TaxonomyContinue reading “What we know about SARS-CoV-2”
Virus&Co. 